BIZ BUZZ: Naia to bid turboprops adieu
After the terminal reassignments at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the next bold reform that the San Miguel-led concessionaire will introduce to erase the “worst airport in the world” stigma is to move smaller, turboprop aircraft out of the Manila gateway.
We hear that those turboprop planes—like the ATRs and Bombardiers that typically carry 60 to 80 passengers operated by CebGo and PAL Express (the regional brands of Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines)—will have to be deployed to other airports starting next year.
Highly placed sources told Biz Buzz that New Naia Infra Corp. (NNIC), concessionaire of the privatized Naia airport, would soon notify airlines with turboprop planes in their fleet that the slots for these types of aircraft would be reduced by 30 percent by March next year.
Then by October 2025, all of those turboprop aircraft will no longer be allowed at Naia, which will henceforth make space for bigger jets.
A reliable source explained that since it’s the same slot that NMIC gives to an aircraft carrying just 60 passengers as a jet flying 320 passengers, there’s so much efficiency that could be unlocked if Naia gives all the slots to the bigger aircraft.
“When it’s a big plane and small plane [moving to and from the airport at around the same time], you need to separate longer. But if jet to jet, you can reduce separation; you can have more frequency of flights,’ one industry source said.
In air traffic control, separation refers to the required distance between aircraft flying on parallel courses in order to avoid collision.
By prioritizing bigger jets, Naia hopes to expand the destinations of aircraft flying out of Manila, boost international flights and attract more carriers.
To date, there are 84 turboprop flights flying out of Manila daily, translating to about 1.8 million passengers a year. If the same slots were given to bigger planes like Airbus A320, airport capacity would immediately increase by 9.8 million.
This latest move means that carriers will have to look for other gateways for their smaller regional planes, which will benefit Clark International Airport, for now the nearest alternative.
